La Prairie has been one of the pioneers who introduced the anti-aging brightening product line called Cellular Swiss White Collection, and what's more exciting is that they brought out a super charged version of it, which is White Caviar Illuminating Pearl Infusion. You still get the original benefits from White Caviar Illuminating Serum's golden caviar and Vitamin C, but better. On top of its firming and anti-pigmentation benefits, it also shields skin from harmful environmental factors and protects skin from internal stress.
If you have been following my website, you might have already noticed by now that the La Prairie White Caviar Collection has been probably my least favourite range. It's mainly because I'm not a huge fan of their White Caviar Illuminating Moisturizing Cream because of its bizarre texture and their White Caviar Illuminating Serum being somewhat too light for my dehydrated skin. Their eye care products are great though :3. Anyways, I've contemplated a lot whether I even needed to try their new launch of the month, White Caviar Illuminating Pearl Infusion. However, I had to get it as I'm always interested to see the responses that the leading luxury skincare brands suggest to current issues related to skin aging.
Scent & Consistency
The smell of White Caviar Illuminating Pearl Infusion is very pleasant and fresh. It does smell like a White Caviar range, but it also smells a bit of Skin Caviar line at the same time.
White Caviar Illuminating Pearl Infusion comes out of the bottle very liquidy and light. It spreads very easily and light onto skin, which is very good as you only need a small amount to cover your entire face.
I must add that there's an interesting transition: from lightweight gel fluid serum to a hydration burst sensation, then to smooth silky finish without any oily residue. There's also a very pleasant firming and tightening sensation along with subtle luminosity as it penetrates into skin. Skin feels mattified too without any powdery feel or any discomfort. It's great under make-up and sunscreens without overstimulating sebum production during the day.
Benefits
- The science of light: This infusion targets three types of skin discoloration while rare golden caviar extract helps to lift and firm. With its exclusive illuminating compound, this serum targets the three chromatic light-barriers to a luminous complexion: redness, age spots and dullness.
- See youthful, luminous skin in four weeks
- Helps fade the appearance of dark spots, diminishes redness and shields skin from pollution
Active ingredients encased in opalescent white caviar pearls fuse with a serum to transform into a first-of-its-kind formula. Dark spots seem to fade, redness is diminished and pollution greyness is reduced.
Verdict
I must say that White Caviar Illuminating Pearl Infusion seems basically like an upgraded version of their existing White Caviar Illuminating Serum, delivering better hydration and firming benefits powered with more skin protection. Having said that, it may not work very well with dehydrated or dry skin types, so you will need an additional hydrating serum or moisturiser on top. As the temperature gap in WA is still quite big, I have been pairing it with Kahina Giving Beauty Prickly Pear Seed Oil and La Mer The Hydrating Facial sheet mask.
If you have oily to normal skin, you won't need to worry about it. Personally, I'm very glad to see La Prairie adding White Caviar Illuminating Pearl Infusion to their line. And I think that they named the product very cleverly as it seems to be coherent to their other products including Cellular Power Infusion and Cellular Swiss Ice Crystal Collection. Not just the name, but also their functions too as both of them are related to anti-pollution and promoting healthier skin by protecting and preventing any future damages to skin.
Expectations
However, you won't see that much of a dramatic transformation in your skin compared to their other serums, despite their claims. And I don't think that it takes the redness down that you may already have in your skin very effectively at all. Rather, it seems to prevent the redness that you may get such as from environmental exposure to things like sun and pollution. Not to mention about the importance of pairing with a reliable sun protection for the true efficacy of the infusion, a brightening skincare result by itself is very difficult to achieve with just one single product in my opinion. Basically, anything that you do throughout the day including the frequency of sunscreen re-application/diet/drinking etc. may or may not increase the chance of seeing the real efficacy of any brightening product.
Having said that, from my experience, I didn't get that much more sun spots on my cheeks or sun sensitivity throughout the Summer compared to the one before. I can tell that it did a great job on regulating melanin production in my skin, but there's no overall skin tone brightening benefits, so I'm not quite sure how many people may be convinced of the benefits of this new serum honestly unless you observe your skin throughout the day as there's no very noticeable effect. La Prairie White Caviar Pearl Infusion won't replace any laser treatment as it won't make your existing spots disappear magically.
Brightening skincare Dilemma
And now you may start to contemplate whether you should get the product or not. Personally, White Caviar Pearl Infusion is one of my few favourites amongst the brightening serums on the market not just because of the high technology behind it, but mostly due to the fact that it doesn't irritate my dehydrated skin. And I've had only a few hormonal breakouts to count in Summer since I started using the serum, which is pretty amazing as I'm more prone to pimples in warmer seasons mainly due to the increased frequency/amount of the sunscreen re-application throughout the day.
Nevertheless, I'm very careful when trying a brightening product as my skin tends to break out if the formulation isn't right, but I've had no such issue with the La Prairie one. And that's already good enough for me to repurchase as I can even use it during my cycle without worrying about any product sensitivity. You see, I have pretty much normal skin, but my skin can be sensitive to certain types of products just like how some people don't get along well with some of the retinol ones. Meaning, although La Prairie White Caviar Pearl Infusion is designed for all skin types including the sensitive ones, it may irritate your skin as it still falls into a brightening/anti-aging category that can be a bit too active for some sensitive skin types.
Any dermatologist will tell you this too, but brightening skincare is like a lifelong marathon, so you need to be very steady and patient with any brightening product that you may decide to use just like how it takes a long time for our past sun damage to come to the surface as brown spots. Even with in-office IPL laser
treatments, it can take up to 4-6 sessions at least to see some dark spot fading results, and afterwards you will still need to do maintenance treatments on a regular basis. That's a lot of dedicated time and money too if we think about it, knowing that the laser treatments won't prevent any future brown spots. And I'm mentioning this to you as I think that it's a great reminder for us that there's a clear bottom line that over-the-counter products cannot cross and also the benefits that we may see in our skin isn't just coming from using the product but more from our daily lifestyle.
A Rare Find: Brightening and Firming
If you are someone who understands this from a holistic approach and are ready to invest in the brightening skincare with religious sunscreen reapplication throughout the day, then La Prairie White Caviar Pearl Infusion will be a great fit as it's firming and brightening combined in its function. The truth is that it isn't very common to find a brightening skincare product that features firming anti-aging benefits as you are not usually recommended to layer a brightening serum and an anti-aging serum on top of each other at the same time due to the potential increased sun sensitivity and also decreased efficacy overall. The worst case is that you could get unwanted sun damage here and there in your skin from misusage. The point is that it's indeed way more complex to come up with such a product that features both brightening and anti-aging benefits just in a single bottle, and I'm very glad that La Prairie did it as we don't need to worry about any active ingredient conflicts or sensitivity due to the brand reliability in the field.
Having said that, I still wouldn't recommend the serum to those with truly sensitive/active skin including eczema/acne-prone skin as brightening skincare products in general can be still a bit too much for them although I found it to heal my post-popping pimple marks very fast and effectively. Well, that's actually the last reason why I like the product due to its fast skin regeneration power, which makes it a great seasonal companion in Summer to La Prairie Skin Caviar Crystalline Concentre that's more suitable for colder weather. It may sound a little strange to some of you, but it's a revolutionary enhancement in my Spring/Summer skincare routine thanks to White Caviar Pearl Infusion since I no longer need to sacrifice firming benefits solely because of the seasonal necessity of brightening skincare routine from an extended sun exposure as it's conveniently all featured in one serum. How cool is that! You see, this is why I love technology :3....but comes at heartbreaking price...</3
I've been trying to look for an alternative for my Beautémia readers, but currently there isn't such a competent high-tech driven firming/brightening combined serum with added anti-pollution benefits like the White Caivar one. I knew that it's unusual, but it really turned out to be a true rare item, Haha :P For the best efficacy, I suggest you to pair White Caviar Pearl Infusion with La Prairie White Caviar Crème Extraordinaire Illuminating cream, but if your focus is more on long-lasting deep hydration, their Cellular Time Release Moisturizer will work better.
Where to buy
- Nordstrom (Free shipping & samples)
- Saks Fifth Avenue (Free shipping & samples)
Recommendations
- Guerlain Orchidée Impériale White The Age-Defying & Brightening Serum (Concentrate)
- La Mer The Brilliance Brightening Mask (Blanc de La Mer)
- La Mer The Brilliance White Infusion (Blanc de La Mer/ First Essence)
- La Prairie Day Creams & Emulsions with SPF (Anti-Aging/ Radiance/ Swiss Ice Crystal)
- High-end Hydrating Moisturisers (Guerlain vs La Mer vs La Prairie vs Sisley)
